Censored video shows terrorist use woman as human shield while planting explosives. Soldiers irked by 'censorship'; IDF says not all footage taken by military is published

Yoav Zitun

The IDF imposed an embargo on a video allegedly documenting a Palestinian terrorist using a Palestinian woman as a human shield, Ynet discovered Sunday.

Footage taken by IDF cameras in the area clearly shows the terrorist holding the woman hostage, carying her as a barrier between himself and IDF forces. . . .The footage shows the terrorists running toward a group of farmers. Then, one of them grabbed a woman and carried her until taking cover behind a building.

Golani Brigade soldiers, who are currently deployed in the sector, and have had the opportunity to see the footage, said it was clear that the woman was forced to run with her assailant until he found cover.

"Why don't they give this video to the media? It should be shown to Goldstone," said one of the soldiers

The IDF spokesman's unit said in response that, "The IDF uses the various means in its disposal to document its operational activities for purpose of debriefing, public diplomacy and possible criminal action.

"Nevertheless, for security reasons not all documented events are released for publication."

This story is hilarious, allegedly a Palestinian man uses another as a human shield, but we cannot see evidence of this, because the Israeli authorities are blocking it????

And I buy all of this, the same way I buy the idea there is gold at the end of a rainbow or a man in the moon or that the cow really did jump over the moon.

Someone show me a human rights group affirming the illegal use of human shields here, and I will believe it.

They keep writing reports, year in and year out, those human rights groups like Btselem and Amnesty, about Israel's use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, that often include children.

And I google Btselem human shields, and the first article I pull up, dated 2011, begins:

Human Shields

On 6 October 2005, Israel's High Court of Justice ruled that it was illegal for the army to use Palestinian civilians during military actions. The judgment was given on a petition that B'Tselem and six other human rights organizations filed in 2002. The petition followed the army's use of Palestinian civilians as human shields since the beginning of the second intifada, primarily during operations carried out in densely populated Palestinian areas, as occurred in Operation Defensive Shield.

The method was the same each time: soldiers picked a civilian at random and forced him to protect them with his body, and do dangerous tasks for them. For example, soldiers have ordered Palestinians to:

enter buildings to check if they are booby-trapped, or to remove the occupants;

remove suspicious objects from roads;

stand inside houses where soldiers set up military positions, so that Palestinians would not fire at them;

and walk in front of soldiers to shield them from gunfire, while the soldiers point a gun to their backs and sometimes fire over their shoulders.

The soldiers in the field did not initiate this practice; rather, the order to use civilians as a means of protection was made by senior army officials.

The IDF is certainly one of the world's best and most efficient armies.

But I'll tell you one thing they don't do well: explain themselves.

"it won't be published because of security reasons" !?

What kind of nonsense is that? It harms security more by NOT publishing it. And the shame of it all is that the IDF (and most Israelis) don't realize this.

shmuelgoldstein,

I disagree with you, your statement the IDF does not explain themselves well.

I think their killing acts explains the IDF very well, they are all about murdering Palestinians, ethnic cleansing, genocide, war crimes, violating the Fourth Geneva Cnvention and other intl human rights laws.

The IDF is certainly one of the world's best and most efficient armies.

But I'll tell you one thing they don't do well: explain themselves.

"it won't be published because of security reasons" !?

What kind of nonsense is that? It harms security more by NOT publishing it. And the shame of it all is that the IDF (and most Israelis) don't realize this.

shmuelgoldstein,

I disagree with you, your statement the IDF does not explain themselves well.

I think their killing acts explains the IDF very well, they are all about murdering Palestinians, ethnic cleansing, genocide, war crimes, violating the Fourth Geneva Cnvention and other intl human rights laws.

Statements like the above only serve to show that the IDF and most Israeli channels do an appaling job at making their case heard in the international court of world opinion.

Unless of course one believes that the IDF *wants* to be seen as a bunch of child-murdering savages . . . .

Most of us who have served in the IDF and who have sons and brothers and neighbors who have served are aware that the IDF bends over backwards in most cases to avoid civilian casualties, although at the same time they are human and fallable.

This fact will, of course, fall on deaf ears if the IDF does not explain itself properly, and certainly if those ears are deaf to reality or are prejudiced or bigoted. The former can be remedied by proper public relations, but the latter cannot. It is a shame and quite frankly a disaster that the IDF does not realize this enough.

Sherri, you don't recognize the legitmacy of the Israeli High Court of Justice, yet you quote rulings from that same body to support your thesis.

There is a word that describes this stance: hypocritical.

shmuelgoldstein,

A couple of points, that Israeli court itself found the IDF was using Palestinians unlawfully as human shields, and ordered them to stop. That is proof the IDF uses Palestinians as human shields. They have not stopped, according to the human rights groups. I do not know what any of that says about Hypocrisy of any person pointing this ruling out

Another point, I am an American citizen, I have no obligation whatsoever to accept the authority or legitimacy of a court in an Apartheid State like Israel.